Field
In some aspects, the disclosure relates to electronics and, more specifically but not exclusively, to programmable non-volatile memory circuits.
Related Art
This section introduces aspects that may help facilitate a better understanding of the disclosure. Accordingly, the statements of this section are to be read in this light and are not to be understood as admissions about what is prior art or what is not prior art.
Non-volatile (NV) memory is used for configuration pattern storage for programmable logic devices such as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). When this NV memory is external to the FPGA, the pattern is transferred to the FPGA's internal configuration static random-access memory (SRAM) through regular data pins. There are some product applications, however, where the NV memory block is internally embedded within the FPGA chip itself, so as to provide secure, independent configuration storage even when the FPGA is powered down. This memory pattern is normally transferred internally during chip power-up as an “initialization” sequence, with the data transfer most often taking place in the conventional fashion—as if the configuration pattern was externally presented to the FPGA's configuration controller even though the source is actually on chip.